[amsat-bb] Fwd: RE: VUCC awarsd fees

[Merle Olmsted]

This was in reference to my e:mail asking why the rates for VUCC were 
much higher than DXCC..

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	RE: VUCC award fees
Date: 	Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:30:42 -0500
From: 	Moore, Bill, NC1L (ARRL Awards Branch) <nc1l at arrl.org>
To: 	<mlolmsted at fuse.net>



Hi Merle:

Actually, the VUCC fees are more close to what it costs to process an application.
Most don't realize that for an average DXCC application (+/- 100 cards) the cost is about $40.
VUCC, like DXCC, involves manual data entry just like DXCC and the time to process is costly and time-consuming.
You'll notice that LoTW VUCC processing is less than the manual processing. Using LoTW is what we would like to
see as it is less costly and no manual data entry by staff is required.

I believe this is the first ever price adjustment for VUCC since the start of the program in 1983.
Had we done it gradually over the years it may have been easier to deal with. We discussed this for some time before we made the change. The fees are not meant to make money or break even. All the fees ever do is minimize losses, just like DXCC.

Regards

  
Bill Moore NC1L
Awards Branch Manager
ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio™
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111
Telephone: (860) 594 0234
Fax: (860) 594-0346
email: dxcc at arrl.org
DXCC Web Site: www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc
Blog: http://www.arrl.org/awards-blog